Brooklyn Bridge Park will get bigger under a deal struck Monday settling lawsuit brought to stop the handover of the historic Tobacco Warehouse to a prominent theater company. The city agreed to turn a 38,000 square foot site it owns under the Manhattan Bridge into a new chunk of the waterfront park - to replace the DUMBO warehouse and nearby Empire Stores when they lose federal protection as parkland. Tobacco cigarettes blog: www.tobacco-news.net
“These historic treasures will be preserved and put to use for the community and park’s benefit,” Mayor Bloomberg said. “Brooklyn Bridge Park has quickly become woven into the fabric of the neighborhood and this expansion will make it an even more invaluable community resource.” Local groups sued to stop the city from handing over the building to St. Ann's Warehouse, which planned to turn it into a theater and cultural center. Critics said the plan would freeze out park users who can't afford theater tickets.
They charged officials illegally removed the building from federal protection - and a judge agreed, hitting the city with an injunction to halt the plan last year. Under the settlement, the St. Ann’s plan, which includes a theater space and an outdoor garden, will be able to go forward - eventually. First, city officials will have to get state legislation and approval from the National Parks Service for the development, expected to take about a year. The city will move the paint shed and water meter testing facility currently located under the bridge and turn it into part of the park, a Bloomberg spokeswoman said.
“The expansion of the park is a great victory for everyone,” said Joan Zimmerman, president of the Fulton Ferry Landing Association, which brought the lawsuit along with the Brooklyn Heights Association and New York Landmarks Conservancy. St. Ann’s is set to get the boot from its current location later this year to make way for a development project, and will move temporarily to new space on Jay St.
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